Day Off
by spicyberries
Summary: Hearing that Naruto and Sasuke had unleashed hell somewhere in the village yet again hadn't surprised Kakashi at all. He'd sort of seen it coming, actually. Hearing that Sakura'd gotten into a fist fight, on the other hand... (Contains spanking)
1. Chapter 1

This was suggested by a Guest in the story Firm Hand, and I liked the idea, so here it is!

I kind of particularly struggled writing this first chapter, I don't know why (I suspect it's because I've been studying in a language that isn't my native language or english and I FORGET how to properly do all languages bc my memory is bad) so I'm sorry about the grammatical errors. Please point them out if you feel like it!

* * *

Asuma was already standing between the girls by the time Kakashi got there, firmly grasping them firmly by their wrists to prevent them from murdering one another. Ino and Sakura wouldn't stop yelling despite Asuma's presence, and while he seemed deeply frustrated by that, the way he bit his lip also gave away his slight nervousness. Kakashi'd have found it funny if he hadn't been in that same position many times before.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kakashi asked and, though he wasn't using his scolding tone, both girls still gave a small start in their places and looked at him with large eyes. Asuma's entire face brightened with relief at seeing him, as if he thought that Kakashi would be his salvation. If he only knew that he was just as bad at dealing with blood thirsty little beasts… "I thought—"

He interrupted himself at the sight of his respective genin's face. Sakura immediately turned her head away, but it was already too late. Kakashi took her chin in his hand and made her look at him again, leaning down so he could examine more closely the small thread of blood trailing down her chin.

"Oh, _Sakura_," Kakashi chided in a whisper, less sharply than he'd have liked. Sakura's busted lip was really swollen. It definitively looked like she would need stitches."I thought we'd agreed that this wouldn't happen again. What were you thinking? Getting into fist fights with a comrade is _no _exemplary behavior for a shinobi."

Sakura looked down, though she didn't look particularly ashamed. Something told Kakashi she wasn't regretting what she'd done but getting caught. He'd have to fix that later, as soon as he'd dealt with his other little pending problem, which still awaited very patiently for him. What a joyous morning he was having.

"Say you're sorry, Sakura," Kakashi ordered, this time managing to use his strict voice. Sakura pressed her lips tight together, not bothering at all about her wounded lip. She didn't even wince. Kakashi'd always known she had a high pain tolerance but seeing her use that it in favor of throwing a tantrum wasn't something he could bring himself to feel proud about. "Now. And, I'm warning you, I'm not in the mood. So, think your words very, very carefully."

"Wait. You don't want to hear what happened?" Asuma asked, as Kakashi took Sakura by her shoulders and turned her around to face Ino again. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Kakashi even gave Sakura a small shove, but the girl stubbornly refused to say a word. He was starting to lose his patience. What'd gotten into her? Sakura was smarter than that. She knew very well that being sweet and obedient was the best she could do for herself when she was in trouble. In contrast to the boys, she would always opt for doing as she was told while giving him her most regretful doe eyes.

"I still have to go claim my other two little gifts from heaven," Kakashi explained, forcing an eye-wrinkling smile while he slightly tightened his grip on Sakura's shoulders, so she could perceive how displeased he was. "They were at the market this morning, you'll see."

Asuma's eyes widened in realization.

"You won't mean at _the _market, right?" Asuma asked. "The market _market. _The one that is right in the center—"

"Oh, yes, I absolutely mean the market market," Kakashi massaged his temples. "The one that burned in flames for thirty solid seconds this morning, of course. Which other could I be talking about?"

"Are your kids _okay_?"

Kakashi almost felt moved by the genuine concern in Asuma's voice. He evidently hadn't ever had to stop a fire from burning down a tree in the training fields or urgently strip one of his students down to their underwear to rescue them from getting first grade burns. Kakashi'd also been very worried the first seven times something like that happened. But by now he was an expert at rolling genin on dirt and extinguishing tiny flames in their hair with his fingers. He was also very good at kissing better ointment-covered burns.

That was only one of the many privileges that came with the acquisition of a baby Uchiha. Kakashi could recall a pair of similar situations from his childhood he was specially found of, with his own team. But then it'd been funny because it'd been Minato-sensei's problem. Now it was not.

"They most likely are. The report didn't mention anything about serious injuries," Kakashi said, shuddering at the word report. It'd been less of that and more of a tongue-lashing from Tsunade-sama for not being capable of mind controlling those three spawns of devil of his into behaving while he slept through the morning, _on his day off_. "I can't guarantee they'll be _okay _after I get my hands on them, though."

"But I heard Kurenai and Guy's boys were blamed for that," Asuma said, frowning. "I saw Kurenai a while ago, she was _furious. _I don't think that Inuzuka kid is going to see sunlight anytime in the near future."

"Oh, yes, they were involved," Kakashi nodded. "But the fire was my cute little student's personal contribution to that mess. I was also told that _someone _tried to fix it by blowing _a wind_ jutsu on the flames, like it was a birthday cake."

Sakura slapped her forehead and groaned loudly. Kakashi'd had that exact reaction when he'd first heard it.

"What's gotten into these kids in the last days?" Asuma sighed, scratching his head. "I also found out a few hours ago that Shikamaru missed his first official chunin mission because he slept through it. And Chōji actually tried to lie in his behalf by proclaiming he'd seen him really sick, but he's so bad at it that he ended up forgetting the details of his own made-up story."

"I don't know, but mine have been just unbearable this month," Kakashi said. "Today's incident was just too much. I'm drawing the line as soon as they're together."

"Well, I don't want to take much of your time," Asuma said, going back at biting his lip once more. He looked very uncomfortable. Kakashi didn't have a good feeling. "But I do think you should hear the general aspects of this fight. There were a pair of civilians that were more than willing to share with me what they'd heard and seen. They are so nosy…but it can be helpful from time to time."

Asuma crossed his arms over his chest and fiddled with his uniform's sleeves, eyes nervously avoiding Kakashi's for a few seconds. It was so unsettling to see him like that. Asuma wasn't the kind of man to get fidgeting over two little girl's innocent fight. Something else was going on, and Kakashi was sure he wasn't going to like whatever he had to share with him.

"Apparently, it started like usual. Childish discussions over boys and things like that. But—," Asuma cleared his throat and, after noticing that Kakashi was starting to look impatient, he took in a deep breath. "But then Sakura made a commentary regarding Ino's weight."

Kakashi went completely still for a second, breath caught in his throat and lips slightly parted behind his mask. It took him a full minute to process the worlds and realize that he hadn't heard wrong, and that Sakura was now trying to wriggle her way out of his grip. Then his face started to get warm, as his blood burned beneath his skin, and he had to force himself to take a deep breath not to be rough when he turned Sakura around to face him again.

"_What_?" He breathed, voice barely audible between his gritted teeth, while he leaned down to Sakura's eye level. That was enough to make tears fill her eyes, but Kakashi didn't feel guilty at all, like he did most of the times. Sakura still had the nerve to hold his glare, though, even while she blinked repeatedly in an attempt to push the tears back. "You're in so, _so, so much _trouble. You can't even start to imagine. You— I'm not even going to say— You're going to be _so very sorry_."

The tears rolled down her cheeks, but no sob left Sakura's lips. She barely sniffed, shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly. She was trying to be brave, not to crumble in front of who she considered her biggest rival. And it was making Kakashi so much _angrier. _He was having such a hard time containing himself not to raise his voice that for a moment he couldn't believe he wasn't speaking to Naruto or Sasuke. It was something he was used to deal with while scolding the boys, but he'd never before felt like that with Sakura.

"Go on, keep that tough face. Act as unrepentant as you want," Kakashi said, standing at his full height again, snatching Sakura's wrist. "You're only making things worse for you. If you don't want to apologize now, then good. You'll eventually do it, either this night, tomorrow or next week. I'll make sure of that."

Then he looked at Asuma, who had also turned Ino to face him, so he could take a look at her bruises. He had decided to be nice enough to concede Sakura privacy she didn't really deserve, but Kakashi appreciated it anyway. He wasn't proud of when he let his displeasure get the best of him, after all. It was rare, but he usually had very good reasons to reach that level. Like his students recklessly putting their lives on danger or using _particularly sensitive matters _as arguments to denigrate each other.

"I'm _really _sorry, Asuma," Kakashi said, inhaling deeply. "I can't understand what could've possible driven her to say such a foolish thing."

"Hey, it's okay. It was not wise, but—," Asuma pinched the bridge of his nose. "But things are okay now. They've been excellent, actually. It is just a sensitive topic."

When he opened his eyes again, his look was entirely different. He seemed much calmer now that he'd finally put that out of the way, but also strict. It made Kakashi feel guilty, for some reason. Though he was aware that Ino wasn't an angel either, he still felt that what Sakura'd done was so serious Asuma shouldn't bother into going all disappointed-sensei on his student too.

"Now," Asuma said, looking directly at Ino's eyes. "Ino _was_ actually the one to throw the first punch. Which is absolutely inexcusable, no matter what the circumstances were. She knows a lot better than that. So, Ino, I want to hear you apologizing to Sakura. Now."

The girl gaped at him, scandalized blue eyes widening so much that Kakashi just knew she was exaggerating her reaction. Like she'd had it planned. Actually, now that he looked a little more attentively, he could notice that she wasn't looking too affected by what was going on. Not that that justified Sakura's actions, at all.

"But— but—" Ino babbled. "But I don't want to, Asuma-sensei."

"I wasn't asking you if you wanted to, Ino," Asuma said, sighing. "I told you to _do _it. Please."

The girl stuttered some intelligible things while flailing her arms around, apparently not being able to find the right words to express how offended she was feeling. She ended up puffing her cheeks and stomping her foot, like a five-year-old, while she shamelessly turned her head away from her sensei. It made Kakashi remember that she was actually the _heiress _of one of Konoha's most honorable clans. He'd heard Minato-sensei complain about Inoichi presenting that very same spoiled-brat symptom from time to time.

"Ino," Asuma warned, hands on his hips. "I'm going to ask you one last time."

Ino glared at him, eyes filled with such a braze venom Kakashi felt bad for thinking Asuma had it easier than him with his students. While it was true that Asuma's kids didn't go and willingly throw themselves right in the line of imminent danger like Kakashi's did, he actually had to deal with three of the most _difficult _heirs of the principal clans of Konoha. He carried on his shoulders the great expectations of proud clan heads that wanted him to magically make excellent ninjas out of their lazy children.

"Please, tell Sakura—"

"NO!" Ino shouted, stomping her foot once again, raising her voice to such a level that some poor passersby jumped and started walking faster. Then she put on a sickly-sweet smile. "No, I won't."

Asuma seemed…

Shocked, at first.

He was the one gaping at his tiny genin now, unlit cigarette almost falling from his mouth.

Then one.

Two.

Three seconds passed.

And his eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline.

"No?" Asuma repeated. He didn't have a threatening expression, but the tone he used sent shivers down Kakashi's spine and made Ino turn pale in seconds. Asuma rubbed his chin, nodding to himself. "No. Fine. Perfect. No, it is, then. Understood."

Ino seemed to realize she'd fucked up, badly, because her features melted into the worried lines of anxiety. She started fiddling with her fingers, putting on the puppy eyes Kakashi'd expected to see in Sakura when she'd first looked at him. Asuma didn't seem affected by them at all, though.

"Go to training ground number seventeen."

Asuma's words unleashed a nervous wreck in Ino. She seemed stunned at first, but then her eyes filled with tears and she started desperately shaking her head no while words spilled out of her mouth like a river of apologies.

"No, no, no, no, no— Sensei no, I'm sorry. Look, I'm very very sorry. Sakura— I'm sorry. There— that's— should I also apologize to Kakashi-sensei? Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Ino," Asuma cut her, voice sharp. "Enough. Do as you were told."

Ino didn't bother into suppressing her trembling sobs while tears ran down her face, but Kakashi presented she didn't really mind about her pride. She clearly seemed to think her crying would get her anything he wanted, including her sensei's forgiveness. Asuma seemed to think otherwise.

"No, please! Please no sensei, I'm sorry," Ino babbled, hands clasped in front of her. "Please no, I'll be good. Please, please—"

When Asuma only shook his head, unmoved by her little scene, Ino only started crying harder. Kakashi cringed, and the anger slowly started to fade to give space to awkwardness. He cleared his throat and tugged Sakura to start walking behind him, deciding that the best would be to leave Asuma to deal alone with his own student. He really didn't want Sakura to feel like imitating Ino's methods to try and get out of trouble, no matter how unlikely that was. He didn't want to take any risks.

Sakura finally decided to obey.

"There's no way out of this, Ino," Kakashi heard Asuma say and, judging by Ino's muffled sobbing, he was probably wiping away the tears from her face. "You know much better than giving me an attitude in front of another jōnin. We've talked about this _many _times."

Oh, so Ino'd actually managed to get away with it before.

It made sense she got so upset from all sudden. She hadn't been _prepared _for her usually-so-forgiving sensei to react like that out of almost nowhere.

Ino babbled something unintelligible, and Kakashi looked back only to wave goodbye at Asuma. He waved him back with a tormented look Kakashi was sure he also had in his face.

He still had to pick up the boys.

* * *

So, yes, Sakura is in for it. Badly. There's of course a logical explanation to all of this, it's not only because she went all silly from all sudden. She's still our very smart Sakura.

We're finding out what did the boys get into in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry about the grammatical mistakes.

* * *

"I don't understand what I did wrong," Guy whined, for the sixth time in less than five minutes. Kakashi sighed. "I mean, I've given him nothing but love. One would think all he should give me back is love too. Not trouble! Rebellion! Unruliness!_ Disappointment_!"

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, Guy—"

"HE HATES ME! That's the only explanation! Why else would he disgrace all the precious lessons I've taught him?" Guy sobbed. "The entire village has heard about this! I'll never live down the humiliation. Everyone will think I'm the worst sensei and…"

Guy went on and on, rambling about his now stained reputation and the indescribable ache that was slowly destroying his poor heart while he and Kakashi made their way to the center of the village to collect their respective troublemakers. Hearing his complaints wasn't helping Kakashi at all. It only made him more aware that having their genin in trouble on a daily basis was actually not _normal _for most jōnin instructors, and that most of them still had some reputation left to lose. Not that he considered that Guy had any reputation left, but—

"Finally! It took you _ages. _Where were you? You were asked to be here _hours _ago."

Kakashi came to a halt. Standing right in front of him at the market square's entrance, with his hands on his hips and the most offended look he'd ever seen in him, was Izumo. And he wasn't pleased, judging by his curled lip and furrowed brow. Kakashi made sure to tug Sakura to stand in front of him, to present her as if she were a key piece of evidence to prove him innocent.

"Ah—" Kakashi chuckled nervously. "You'll see, Sakura also got in trouble and—"

"Where is he?" Guy hissed, closing the distance between him and Izumo in less than a blink until his nose was touching the other man's, eyes narrowed. "Where are you hiding him?"

Izumo paled a little, but valiantly held Guy's glare even as he nervously stepped back to recover his personal space. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at them both, evidently making an effort to show them how annoyed he was. Kakashi'd be lying if he said he understood why. Sure, he and Guy were late, but there'd been no injured so there was no reason for a chūnin to wait for so long in until the jōnin showed up. Unless—

Oh.

Of course.

"Listen. We understand you're busy," Izumo said. "But you have to understand that we also have much more important things to do than _babysitting _a bunch of genin. Your rank doesn't give you any right to delegate your responsibilities and therefore—"

"I see," Guy interrupted him, nodding his head and placing his heavy hands on Izumo's shoulders and giving them a squeeze that made the poor man flinch. "So, you're also feeling outraged because of what our idiotic little students did this morning. I understand your pain, my dear comrade. This incident was unacceptable, and brings shame to us all, especially to the ones who are in charge of them. But don't worry. They'll _pay _for this. They'll face our burning rage in a youthful session of discipline!"

Guy delivered what probably was supposed to be a friendly pat to Izumo's back but ended up being a full-force slap that seemed to knock the air out of his lungs. Then he made a beeline for the burned section of the market, not bothering into waiting for Izumo to recover his breath.

"Just wait until I've got my hands on you, Lee!" Guy roared, startling the few civilians that were still there, gathering their belongings. Or what was left of them. Most things didn't look _carbonized, _but they surely were ruined beyond salvation. Fire tended to do that. "You are due to meet the youthful sting of my hand this afternoon, my beloved student!"

The faces of the civilians seemed to light up at hearing that.

Kakashi couldn't say he blamed them.

"Listen, Izumo," Kakashi sighed. "I'm really sorry. I know it wasn't fair. _No one _deserves to be stuck with that little gang of juvenile delinquents for longer than necessary. I can imagine the hell you went through in the last hours, believe me, that's my every day when I'm training them."

Izumo looked terrified all of sudden. Kakashi forced a tense smile.

"Oh, yes. Did you think that they were being absolute demons only _for you?_" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, they behave like that all the time. It's their fulltime job. It can only get _worse _than that, never the other way around. That's why Sakura got in trouble too, even though she wasn't with the boys this morning."

Izumo's attention focused on Sakura for a moment, on her bruises and the thread of dry blood running down her chin. Sakura curled a lip slightly to show him her teeth, a habit she'd probably learned from Sasuke. Kakashi couldn't bring himself to feel dismayed, he'd already had enough surprises that day to care anymore. He was only grateful she'd at least had the decency not to hiss.

Izumo, on the other hand, backed away a little.

"So, I truly apologize for the trouble I'm sure they caused you," Kakashi said, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "We took so long because this was supposed to be _our day off _and we were away training, not because we wanted to torture you. You can rest now, we'll deal with the spawns of devil. Konoha will live to see yet another day as long as we're here to watch over them, I promise."

Kakashi reaffirmed his hold on Sakura's wrist, making hear squeak in indignation, and then he shunshined to the crime scene before Izumo had enough time to question him about _training, _though it didn't take a genius to deduce that he'd clearly not being doing _that._

* * *

In contrast to his partner, Kotetsu seemed absolutely _delighted _to be in the company of four very idiotic but adorable genin. And Shikamaru, who looked ready to fall asleep right on his place. Kotetsu even received Kakashi with a radiant smile as he snatched Naruto's and Sasuke's wrists before the little weasels could slip away from Kakashi's sight.

"I was starting to wonder where you were, Kakashi-san," Kotetsu said, dragging Kakashi's two charges to where he was standing, ignoring the way they squirmed and demanded loudly to be left alone. "But you arrived just in time. Naruto and Sasuke just finished cleaning their part of the mess, mostly. I mean, they obviously couldn't do anything about the burned bits of the square. They only put away some of the rubble and swept what they could. They did pretty well, especially considering they've got some minor burns and they must be hurting. But it couldn't be helped, you know, property damage is very serious, and we couldn't just let them go like that…"

Kakashi was handed a pair of very sulky and irritated genin, who looked very ready to start clawing at him to try and wriggle out of his grip as soon as he got distracted. He made sure to fix them with a look before returning his attention to Kotetsu, who wouldn't stop chirping about Naruto and Sasuke's day like he was a preschool teacher passing a report to a parent on his pair of naughty toddlers.

"Sasuke's _Gōkakyū no Jutsu _has gotten really impressive. He managed to set in fire _all of this, _look, if you follow the traces of burned plants and concrete…"

"Oh, yes," Kakashi muttered, forcing an eye-wrinkling smile. "Very impressive indeed. I can't wait to hear all the details from him. Do you happen to have a _number _with you? Like, extent of damage in square meters, number of stalls that were burned down? Number of _terrorized _civilians?"

He felt Sasuke tensing up at his side. Clever boy.

Kotetsu rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds.

"I don't remember any of that, but—" He rummaged through his pockets. "But I do have the approximated costs of the damage. Thankfully all this place is insured and Sasuke is a ninja at the service of the village, so he's protected by the law in this kind of cases."

He unfolded a piece of paper and read out loud the cipher scribbled there.

"Well," Kakashi growled between his teeth. He had to push away the ridiculous need to set Naruto free only, so he could use that hand to give Sasuke a sneak peek of what awaited him. "Looks like we'll have to make a small conversion there. Won't we, Sasuke?"

"But that's the total amount of damage. Not all of it was produced by the fire," Shikamaru pointed out. The kid even had his eyes closed, Kakashi was surprised to see that he'd actually been hearing the conversation. "That sum of money includes the consequences of everything together. From Sasuke's jutsu to Naruto's, which made all of it _ten times worse, _and Kiba's and Lee's own interventions."

"Disgrace!" Guy exclaimed, covering his eyes with his forearm. Kakashi could hear the tears in his voice, he didn't need to see them, but he didn't entirely get the source of his misery. Lee was willfully standing right next to him, not needing to be prevented from escaping away, and was already crying for himself. "I don't want to hear a word about that. Please don't continue. I don't think my heart will be able to handle it."

"Guy-sensei!" Lee sobbed, wringing his hands together as if to abstain himself from throwing himself at his sensei's waist to hug him as he so desperately wanted to. "I'm so sorry. I'll take any punishment you've prepared for me! Please, forgive me, I'm so sorry! I'm so ashamed of my decisions that I'll run fifty laps around Konoha!"

"No, Lee. That kind of punishment will not suffice for this situation," Guy said, lowering his arm so he could look directly into his student's eyes. Fat tears were rolling down his cheeks. "This clearly proves that I've failed as your sensei, at teaching you right from wrong. It's unacceptable. Your punishment shall be something that deeply hurts me as well! And nothing pains me more than giving you a sound and well-deserved spanking, my beloved student!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

The sobbing evolved into wailing and begging. Not because Lee didn't want _that_, though it was obvious he didn't, but because he refused to let his sensei suffer because of a mistake _he'd _made on his own. Guy finally couldn't take it anymore and fell on his knees, so he could embrace his student, openly crying about how unfair teenage rebellion was and how he hated that it had managed to infect his precious Lee.

Kakashi, meanwhile, had to put Naruto into a headlock and pin Sasuke's arm against the small of his back so the tiny idiots wouldn't escape while he carefully examined each of them to determine the gravity of their burns. Sasuke tried to bite him twice and Naruto cried out like he was murdering him when he dared to pinch his arm slightly to chide him for being an absolute brat. All of that while Sakura almost successfully managed to sneak out, if not for Kotetsu who caught her and took sudden concern for her injuries.

Ah.

His sweet kids.

He'd willingly exchange them for dango anytime.

"Okay, that's enough," Kakashi hissed, after Sasuke's third attempt at biting him. He then let go of his both male students and gave each of them a warning swat, being mindful not to do it loud enough to draw attention. Guy's and Lee's little show still had most of the audience distracted. "You can try to escape all you want, but believe me, _I'll find you. _Wherever you are. And things will be so, so much worse for you. So, I'm only saying this once. _Stay. Put."_

Hadn't he known Sasuke better, he would've sworn the boy was giving him doe eyes. Kakashi gave him another swat just in case, because if Sakura'd started to imitate Sasuke's habits, then there was a high chance he was also considering imitating hers. And Kakashi'd have none of it. Sasuke's scowl came back, and he moodily slapped Kakashi's hand away.

"Stop trying," Kakashi said. "Nothing will get you out this."

Naruto finally exploded, flailing his arms around not unlike how Kakashi'd seen Ino do it before.

"But we _worked together _this time, sensei, you know! We actually _helped each other, _like a team! It's so not fair, we were just trying to get along better like you're always telling us to and— and—," Naruto took in a deep breath, apparently too infuriated to remember that he needed to take some air between each sentence. "And this is so _not fair_! It was only a friendly spar, and the bastard and I were winning! Things got a little bit out of control but— but—"

"A _little bit _out of control?" Kakashi repeated, dragging each word between tightly pressed lips. "Does setting half a market on fire seem like something not too serious to you, Naruto?"

The boy sighed sadly and looked at his feet, kicking the dust.

"—n'newas'urt."

Kakashi rubbed his temples.

"I didn't understand a thing, Naruto."

Naruto raised his head again, puffing out his cheeks. Ah, his tiniest genin wasn't any better than Ino. Perfect.

"No one was hurt," Naruto said, stressing each word in a bratty way that made Kakashi wish they weren't in front of so many people in that very moment, so he could teach him _manners. _"We made sure no one was in danger and they understood what was happening anyway, sensei. We're ninja. People know how risky things can get when—"

Another swat. This time, Kakashi didn't care at all about discretion. And this time, all the heads turned to their direction, and Naruto's face got all red and he fumed and stomped his foot and glared at Kakashi while muttering a few curses under his breath and stomped his foot yet again and— and then, a few tears started rolling down his cheeks, and a sob escaped his lips.

Oh, no.

"Oh, Naruto," Kakashi groaned, while wrapping his arms around his genin and allowing him to hide his face against his chest. He then gave the rest of the jōnin and their genin and Shikamaru and Kotetsu a begging look, until they awkwardly looked away again. Then he leaned so he could hug Naruto more closely.

"—'hat was so 'mbarassing, you know," Naruto whined.

Kakashi hid his own face against his genin's shoulder.

He had a long day ahead.

* * *

For some reason lately I've been writing really late at night and that means I'm writing even more nonsense than before. But I'm having fun, so, it's good.

I hope you liked this!

Kurenai and Kiba are in that same scene too, by the way, I was just too tired to find a dialogue to introduce them. BUT THEY'RE THERE.


	3. Chapter 3

I know this took so long I am so sorry (': but hey, I DID IT.

I only hope it meets the expectations. I have been trying to write this chapter since so long ago! But for some reason it was being really hard for me, and I ended up writing so many words I can't even believe it.

I am actually nervous because of that, because I don't know if I condensed way too much information in a single chapter. I hope it's not overcharged.

I also apologize for the grammatical errors, as usual. I have been struggling with english latelyyy.

And by the way, I forgot to mention it, but **DJCyros' **review reminded me that I have to state that. This chapter does make reference to eating disorders, so I guess it should be a warning (: (and yeah, Ino struggled with that!)

Also. This chapter contains _spanking_. I am really sorry I forgot to mention that before!

* * *

Naruto refused to leave his side after the small incident. Kakashi tried nudging him in his teammates' direction, but Naruto only wormed his way back into his embrace. He clearly didn't deserve to be coddled, at least not yet, but Kakashi wasn't feeling courageous enough to face the big sad baby blue eyes he knew he would obtain if he pushed his genin away; so he only sighed heavily and indulged in Naruto's leech tendencies while he clumsily struggled to sign the report Kotetsu was handing him.

"I'm really sorry about this, Kotetsu," Kakashi said, though Kotetsu didn't seem to mind at all. He was still smiling. Apparently, to see genin getting into trouble was very entertaining when said genin didn't belong to you. "I'll also make Naruto and Sasuke very sorry before the day ends. I can guarantee that."

Naruto made a disgruntled sound and burrowed his face even deeper into Kakashi's side, nose tickling his sensei's ribs. Like an angry cat. That sort of behavior was very normal in him when he was feeling upset. Kakashi couldn't help wondering if it had anything to do with the fox inside him.

That didn't explain why Sasuke tended to act like that too, though.

"It's fine, really," Kotetsu said, placing one hand on top of Naruto's head. He seemed to have the intention of ruffling his hair, but then he cleverly withdrew his hand and chuckled nervously when a soft growl rumbled low in Naruto's throat. "I mean, after all, the market shouldn't have been left unsupervised for this long."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that, while he ran one his hands through Naruto's hair to try and stop him from snapping his teeth at the next person that tried to approach him.

"It's true there's no way we could have known the responsible for today's patrol wasn't _here._" Kotetsu threw a glance over his shoulder, right at where Shikamaru was standing, and the boy looked slightly nervous all of sudden. "But we should have at least checked. It was Shikamaru's first mission, after all. We are always supposed to check on the youngest ones."

"Ah, Shikamaru-kun was supposed to be here then?" Kakashi sighed, trying not to let his annoyance show. He knew it wasn't fair for him to be angry at Asuma's boy, because Naruto and Sasuke weren't angels and he was well aware of that; but he couldn't help it. "How unfortunate. He's one of the few persons I know that can manage to convince these two of staying out of trouble. Most of the time."

"He's a natural leader, after all," Kurenai intervened. "It's a shame he isn't making good use of his talents only because he likes to _ignore his alarm clock._"

A small snicker could be heard from the Inuzuka boy she was firmly grasping by the shoulders, but an ear tug made him go silent immediately. Kakashi wished he could have that same effect on his students so easily.

Shikamaru, too smart as to try and talk back to an adult, only looked down and pressed his lips tightly together. It was a good attempt at trying to look deeply ashamed, Kakashi had to admit; but he could still tell that it wasn't entirely sincere. The boy was clearly unhappy at his friends' idiotic antics. He probably thought it was unfair he was being scolded for something that clearly wasn't his fault.

And that irritation would have been understandable coming from another genin, but not from a chunin. Pointing fingers at lower ranks wasn't acceptable. Shikamaru had to learn that.

"It won't happen again," Shikamaru mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"No, I'm sure it won't," Kurenai said. "Because Asuma asked me to tell you that he expects you to meet him in training ground seventeen as soon as you are done here."

The five different expressions that went through Shikamaru's face in less than a second made Kakashi realize that yes, genin in trouble were indeed an adorable and amusing sight for the eyes of those who didn't have to deal with their discipline. He had to suppress a chuckle when the boy finally dropped his face in his hands and let out a frustrated groan.

"I really fucked up this time, didn't I?" He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "He's going to murder me. It won't happen again because I will be dead."

"What happens in training ground seventeen?" Kiba asked, and then he whined as Kurenai pinched his arm reprovingly.

"None of your business," Kurenai said. "You should be worrying about your own near future. I am taking you straight to your mother after this, young man."

Kiba paled at that.

When the spluttering and begging not to let Tsume Inuzuka know started_, _Kakashi switched his attention back to his three unusually quiet genin.

Naruto was still too busy hiding his face from the world and silently trying to regain his dignity, while Sakura refused to meet anyone's eyes and was glaring stubbornly at the completely innocent and half-burned tree at their right instead. Sasuke's attention was focused on his female teammate, and Kakashi knew him too well not to notice the concern he was trying to conceal behind his furrowed brow.

"Who did this to you?" Sasuke hissed, very low, almost in Sakura's ear; but Kakashi still managed to hear it. It wasn't the first time the boy had formulated that same question in the last five minutes, judging by his slightly jutted out lower lip.

Ah, his little avenger.

If only he could be that cute most of the time and to most people.

"It's nothing," Sakura mumbled, and Sasuke's scowl deepened.

"Very well, kids, it's time to go," Kakashi informed. The three of them were already in enough trouble as it was, so he didn't want to give the slightest chance for Sakura and Sasuke to start a fight. "You are sleeping at my place tonight as well."

The plan already was for them to stay with him for a week starting from the next day, after all. It was the normal thing to do when they had training week scheduled. Kakashi just wasn't expecting to have to sacrifice his first day off in months so he could have them over one day before. Much less to _discipline _them.

He practically had to pry Naruto away from him, and even after that his genin's fingers were still clinging to his vest like vicious little claws. Kakashi had to work each of them gently to get the boy to finally release him without much of a fuss. He then patted Naruto's head as a small reward for not biting him, ignoring his grumbles, and nudged him more firmly than before to join his teammates.

"Don't be so sullen, Naruto-kun," Guy said, trying to be helpful. "If it makes you feel better, I would have given Lee that very same treatment if he had dared to talk back to me like that."

"Guy-sensei!" Lee whined. "I would ne—"

As to prove his point, Guy took that chance to give Lee one swat that had the boy jolting in his place. Kakashi felt guilty, because he knew Guy too well enough as not to be aware that he'd very probably just done that out of compromise. So Naruto wouldn't be _that _resentful about it.

It had been more for show than anything, aimed at resulting loud instead of stinging, but it still had Guy sobbing just as much as Lee did in return. He didn't even manage to keep his face straight for more than ten seconds before he dropped to his knees once more to squeeze his student tightly against himself.

The only thing that kept Kakashi from groaning and reproaching Guy was hearing the small chuckle that escaped from Naruto's lips. When he looked down, and he caught a glimpse of a sunshiny smile fighting its way to his student's lips, he decided that maybe it hadn't been that awful.

Naruto's mouth turned down as soon as the he noticed he was being observed, but Kakashi didn't let that discourage him. It would probably take a lot of cuddling to get Naruto's usual self back, but it wasn't impossible. He had done it before. It wasn't a big deal.

Well, maybe _it was _going to be a big deal.

Kakashi was used to his genin being noisy. He knew how to deal with their yelling and bickering and complaining, and by that point he even knew how to react when fists and hair pulling got involved. When that happened, it was even easier for him to take them over his knee, because there existed no clearest signal than that to indicate they were in desperate need to be taught a lesson. There was no time for doubting himself when they were behaving like little demons.

But when they wouldn't meet his eyes and let alone produce the smallest sound, like that day, it was just hard to find the courage to even start the lecture.

He took his time contemplating his students, hands on his hips, trying not to let them notice how unnerving he found their silence. They were huddled together on his couch, close enough so their shoulders and knees bumped, but they weren't looking or speaking at each other. Instead they were staring at the wooden ruler that awaited on the coffee table in front of them, their eyes full of apprehension.

Kakashi didn't blame them. Until then they had never been submitted to the bite of anything but his hand, so it made sense they were being wary of something new. He knew from experience how scary it could be to try and imagine how much worse a ruler could be than a bare hand.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said, sighing. "If you behave, each of you will only be getting five with the ruler. I would prefer not to use it at all, of course, but this has just been enough. I don't know what else can I do to make you understand."

That caught the boys' attention. Naruto and Sasuke glanced sideways at Sakura for a few seconds, eyes widened in surprise; but Sakura didn't even raise his head. They eventually fixed their eyes to the floor again, though hesitance was still evident in their faces. Sakura _never _got the same treatment as them. She was the best-behaved genin in the team. It made sense that they wouldn't believe they had heard right.

"Very well," Kakashi said, while he walked around the short table and carefully lowered himself down on it. It wasn't the most comfortable seat, given his height, but that way he could be almost at his students' eye level. "Is any of you feeling like saying what you did wrong? That would make things much easier."

He waited for a few minutes while he looked expectantly at the little demons sulking in front of him, but as none of them deigned to do as little as blink at him, he just let out another heavy sigh and rubbed his temples.

"Let's get over with this, then," He said, tugging at his glove until it slipped off his right hand. "Sakura. Come here."

Now, that _did _draw a reaction out from the boys. They both raised their heads so fast they could have given themselves whiplash, with twin expressions of incredulity. Eyebrows furrowed; mouth slightly open. They weren't only surprised. It was almost like they were _outraged. _

"Kakashi-sensei, you can't be—"

"What are you trying to imply, Kaka—"

"Sakura-chan can't go first! She never goes first!"

"—whatever she did, it surely couldn't have been _that _bad."

"That's enough, you two," Kakashi intervened, warning implicit in his low voice.

The boys went silent and gaped as Sakura stood up and took a few steps forward, not even stopping to use her sad eyes on their sensei like she usually did. Kakashi took her gently by the wrist when she reached his side, and Sakura turned her head away, still refusing to meet his eye.

"You will be finding out soon enough what your teammate did," Kakashi said. "She will be telling you herself, don't worry. And you will understand why she is going first."

Naruto and Sasuke gave him a glare that, had it been directed at anyone else, would have warmed Kakashi's heart. They were very protective of Sakura; he had always known that. It made him proud to see how upset they could get when someone tried to mess with her. It was adorable, most of the time.

But not that day in particular, when they didn't even know the details of what had happened that morning between Sakura and Ino. Defending a teammate from _anything _was only acceptable when the enemy was involved. Not when they were being reprimanded by their sensei.

Kakashi guided Sakura to stand between his legs, not missing the slight trembles that ran down her small frame. He rubbed her back in a poor attempt to soothe her, but after a few seconds he realized how stupid and useless that was and decided for just bending her over his knee at once.

"You will get in more trouble if I catch you biting on your busted lip," Kakashi said, calmly, while he rested his left hand on Sakura's back to keep her in place. Tiny or not, Sakura could be just as strong as her teammates when she was angry. Kakashi'd already witnessed that many times before. He wasn't willing to get a bloodied lip himself. "I am warning you."

Sakura hadn't been particularly cooperative while he stitched the wound, so it had taken ages more than it should have. He would murder her if he had to repeat all that hard work only because she was suddenly aspiring to become as _unruly _as Naruto and Sasuke_._

"The sooner you start explaining what got you here in this position, Sakura, the sooner we will be moving onto the next step," Kakashi said and then, only because this was _Sakura_ and not the other two little shits he was used to deal with, he conceded her a few seconds of advantage to start talking.

But a whole minute went by, and no word was spoken.

"I don't know what has gotten into you, Sakura," Kakashi sighed, raising his hand high in the air. "But you're not helping yourself. At all."

And then, before he could chicken out, he brought his hand down in the first slap. So hard his own hand _stung._

It was normal for Sakura to start crying even before Kakashi pulled her over his lap. Usually it didn't take more than ten or fifteen swats to have her melt down into a teary mess and the sorriest little genin around. That was why Kakashi hated disciplining her the most, and why he always found an excuse to exempt her from a spanking whenever it was possible.

But that day…

That day, Kakashi was already on the tenth slap, and he was still not receiving any sort of response from Sakura.

He was starting to get nervous.

Even Naruto and Sasuke were wincing and trembling in their places with as much rage as their tiny bodies could contain, hands balled into tight fists on their laps; but Sakura hadn't produced a single sound or shed any tears so far. Hadn't she been occasionally stomping her feet and digging her nails into her sensei's leg through the thick fabric of his uniform, Kakashi would have thought she wasn't feeling it at all.

But she was.

She was only refusing to let it show.

Kakashi was going to spank Naruto and Sasuke into oblivion for teaching her that.

"I have the whole afternoon, Sakura," Kakashi said, giving her another smack that had Naruto gasping and stomping his foot against the wooden floor as if it had been delivered to him. "You're making your teammates feel upset. Don't you see? Stop. Being. So. Stubborn."

The last four smacks had her finally jolting, and Kakashi let himself take a small break, hoping to hear the first apology. But it never came.

It didn't make sense.

He was using the same harshness he usually reserved for the boys when they had been really, _really _bad, but it was almost like it was making no difference for Sakura. It was starting to drive him crazy.

"What did you do, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his voice barely audible and heavy with frustration. "Just tell him. It can't possibly be that bad, you know. I will still like you, no matter what it is, I promise you. You always still like us after we do something dumb."

Kakashi felt something tighten in his chest.

His ridiculously cute fox kit.

"She got into a fight with one of her comrades," Kakashi said, giving up his hopes to hear that explanation coming from Sakura's mouth. "And she said something very, _very _unacceptable to her."

Remembering that made him bring his hand down once again, this time successfully drawing a whine out of Sakura. The girl tried, for the first time, to wiggle out of his grip; but a second smack made her go immediately still. Kakashi felt a few tears wet his uniform and had to suppress a sigh of relief.

"This is something I shouldn't be telling you," Kakashi started, allowing himself to rest his uncomfortably warm hand on Sakura's lower back for a few seconds. "And now I realize I definitely shouldn't have told Sakura about it either, but now it's too late to regret that. This my fault in part too."

He heard a small sob, and it took all of his will not to let Sakura up in that moment so he could sit her on his lap and comfort her.

"One of yo— One of Asuma's— Ino," Kakashi took in a deep breath. They would find out even if they didn't tell them. He had no doubt. "Ino had some problems with her _nutrition _some months ago. You probably noticed her performance notably declined."

He shifted his attention to his other two genin for a few seconds and noticed the sparkle of recognition in Sasuke's sharp eyes. Kakashi _did _remember having to tend to a similar problem, though less serious, when Itachi Uchiha was put under his command. Naruto still looked confused, but his pout made it evident that he understood there had to be something hiding deeper behind that explanation. Something more serious.

"Asuma was so worried. Her parents were so worried," Kakashi continued. "You know how important it is for us to be well fed. To be the _right weight._ The slightest nutrimental deficiency can mean death in a mission. It's something delicate."

He retired his hand, and he felt Sakura tensing up in anticipation.

"That's why I told Sakura, because I know she could offer the support her friend needed," Kakashi said. "And she did. And the problem got solved, after a lot of effort from all sides. But then—"

He had to take in a deep breath to refrain himself from delivering another swat at that same very moment because he was just suddenly feeling so _furious _again he knew he could hurt Sakura, and he wouldn't forgive himself for that.

"Even after Asuma had to work _so hard_, after all the bad moments he and Ino went through, after all the courage it took for both to confront the situation—" Kakashi felt like he couldn't breathe only by imagining any of his students going through that hell. "Your teammate just came and disregarded all of that hard work by going forward and making an uncalled comment on Ino's weight, all because of a _childish fight._"

This time, he did bring his hand down, and he did it five times in succession. Surprisingly, and unnervingly, that didn't make Sakura cry yet. It didn't even make her sob again. And Kakashi's anger slowly started to pile up.

"Why did you did it, Sakura?"

Another swat.

No response.

"Kakashi—"

Sasuke's small thread of voice was lost in the sound of yet another one.

"Kaka—"

Again.

"**Kakashi-sensei!**"

Naruto's yell was the only thing that made Kakashi react. He looked up to be met with jet black, furious eyes, barely a few centimeters away from his. His and Sasuke's noses where almost touching. He hadn't even realized when the boy had gotten so close.

"That's enough, Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't even realize he was helping Sakura up on her feet until he noticed how much his own hands were trembling while he did so. He didn't even get a glimpse of her face before he had a handful of a Uchiha boy struggling to lay across his lap, his pointy elbows digging into his thighs while he did so.

He contemplated in awe as Sasuke undid his shorts and tugged them down to his thighs.

"Sasuke," He mumbled, and suppressed a cough when the boy _accidentally _elbowed him in the stomach. "You get to keep those on."

"What kind of teacher _even _are you?" Sasuke growled, looking back at him with accusing eyes. "Sakura is only wearing a dress and undershorts. This is only fair."

Kakashi wished he could find the strength to give Sasuke his first smack in that same moment. But his heart was still beating too fast. His face felt too warm. His hands were even sweating a little. Anger still ran through his veins but was considerably overshadowed by his growing concern. _Why _was Sakura acting like that?

"What are you waiting for, jerk?"

Sasuke was provoking him.

He was trying to dissuade Kakashi's attention from his teammate.

He was trying to make him forget that Sakura's lecture wasn't finished yet.

Kakashi looked up once again to see Naruto hugging Sakura tight against him, his own eyes shiny with tears of powerlessness. He was too sensitive to other's pain. But he also understood that what Sakura had done was wrong. That was why he wasn't giving Kakashi murderous eyes, but it was evident that it hurt him to accept that.

Sakura was hiding her face against Naruto's shoulder. Kakashi hadn't seen her eyes in all that time, now that he thought about it. He suddenly felt the urge to, to take her chin in his hand, to ask her directly what was wrong.

Maybe he should just go ask Guy what he was supposed to—

A sharp pain in his left hand had him letting out a hiss. And then, when he tried to shake it, the pain only got worse.

He looked down, and his head cleared again.

Sasuke had bitten him.

He regained his focus.

Okay.

He _needed _to do something about his two boys.

Punishing Sasuke was so, so much easier. Almost refreshing. It helped Kakashi get his feet back on the ground and remember that he was the adult there, and that therefore he was the one who needed to put order. And that meant making sure Sasuke understood his little acts of bravery wouldn't be tolerated when they involved _teeth_.

"I don't ever, Sasuke, and I mean _ever—_" Kakashi mumbled between his teeth, while he pushed Sasuke further down and delivered some well-deserved smacks to his undercurve. "—want to see you— or even _hear _that you bit someone. We're educated human beings. That's why we have _words, _and why we use them when we are _upset. _You need to start dialoguing more instead of first recurring to your instincts. And that applies to _everything_."

Sasuke wasn't making any sound either, but he mostly never did. That was normal in him. It didn't worry Kakashi as much as Sakura's silence had.

And Sasuke _did _fuss and kick his feet as much as Kakashi's hold would allow him. He would also wriggle whenever he received a particularly stinging smack, and that at least helped Kakashi understand how effective the punishment was being and determine how he should proceed next.

"Friendly spars should not involve a fire big enough to set in flames almost a whole market," Kakashi continued, giving Sasuke's thighs enough attention to turn them a soft shade of pink. "—sorry. Friendly spars _should never _take place in market, or any place with as much as one civilian in it, to begin with."

Continuing the lecture was also easy. It was almost the same as always. _Don't put yourself and the ones around you in unnecessary danger, Sasuke _and _You need to start acting your age, Sasuke _with a little bit of _next time I find out you terrorized a whole village again I am taking you over my lap right in front of the civilians, Sasuke._

The problem with Sasuke wasn't that he wasn't mentally capable of learning a lesson.

The problem was that he always learned not to do a _specific _thing, and never adjusted said lesson to a brand-new situation. He would very likely never again set in fire a market again. He would however very likely still set in fire a restaurant at some hour in which no civilians were around. And not because he was _stupid,_ but because he was a brat.

"And _stop _giving all the adults an attitude. You're unconsciously encouraging the other genin to imitate you," Kakashi said, giving Sasuke a last smack that made him jump. "Understood?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He knew he wouldn't get one. Instead, he silently took the ruler that was still patiently waiting to be used, making sure Sasuke didn't notice, and waited until a few minutes passed by and Sasuke finally relaxed on his lap again.

"This time I'm giving you a small encouragement not to forget this as easily as you always do, Sasuke," Kakashi announced. "So you can think very carefully next time you're tempted to take a rash decision."

Before Sasuke could say anything in return, he brought the ruler down. Three times. In a blink. Distributing very carefully each smack to cover all of Sasuke's rear.

And that had the boy gasping, whining and yelping respectively. Kakashi then put the ruler down once more and gently guided Sasuke to sit again, rubbing his back comfortingly and shushing him with a few whispers. The boy was glaring at him, obviously trying to pretend he wasn't in need for his coddling, but the few tears on his cheeks said otherwise.

"I still need to deal with your teammates," Kakashi said. "But after that we can all have dinner and call it an early night. Go _sit. _I will give you something for the soreness later, but for now it will do you good to feel the sting for a while."

Sasuke was still stubbornly trying to burn holes into his eyes, so Kakashi made him get up and gave him one last swat to send him his way.

He realized that, in contrast to Sasuke, dealing with Naruto wouldn't be as easy as always that time. Probably because instead of giving his sensei an attitude and being unwisely aggressive, he only stood in front of Kakashi and stared at him with his big, big blue eyes. Tears already gathered in them. Lower lip stuck out into a pout.

"There's no way out of this, Naruto," Kakashi reminded him, gently, while tried to take him by the wrist. Naruto swatted his hand away, so he felt forced to use a sterner tone of voice. "_Naruto._"

The boy cursed softly for himself and, imitating his teammate's actions, shimmied his pants down. Only that he stopped at the middle of his butt. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and, as soon as Naruto had positioned himself on his lap, he tugged the boy's pants lower down until his frog-printed underwear was fully displayed.

"Wasn't today's public humiliation enough for you, sensei?" Naruto whined, already wriggling. "That's so mean, you know!"

Kakashi gave him one slap, not too hard, only to remind him that he wasn't in the position to protest. Naruto growled and hid his face against the fabric of Kakashi's trousers, muttering many other things unintelligible things.

"No one told you that you had to take your pants down, Naruto," Kakashi said. "But if you decided to do it, anyway, then at least do it _all the way. _It's not my fault you decided to wear your most striking underwear instead of simple black boxers, like Sasuke."

"But— but I like 'ese, you know" Naruto muttered, voice muffled by Kakashi's uniform, fists closing loosely around handfuls of fabric. Kakashi ran his hand through his hair once, reassuringly.

"I am sure your teammates understand. Don't be embarrassed."

"Like hell this bastard could—" Naruto interrupted himself with a screech when Kakashi gave him another slap, this time a little bit harsher.

"Language," He chided. Naruto only whimpered in return.

Kakashi brought his hand down a few more times until he fell into a steady rhythm, and then he started adding the swats a little more of height. Just enough to have Naruto also kicking his feet and whining loudly, and then some more to show Naruto that thrashing around wouldn't bring him anything good.

If he had to be honest, he was started to get a bit tired.

Disciplining genin could look easy enough for any regular adult, but they weren't normal children. They were trained. They had _muscle _and enough strength to take down a civilian adult by themselves. Their kicking wasn't as inoffensive as one would think.

Restraining them was hard and even slightly painful, when one was forced to do so for several minutes. And Kakashi had been doing so for the past half hour. His shoulders and legs were killing him.

"I am sorry I couldn't contain myself back there in the market, Naruto," Kakashi said. "But what you said was so _wrong," _He punctuated the word with a particularly stinging swat, that he knew was effective because of how much his own hand smarted after it. "We are supposed to protect civilians. Their safety comes _first_."

Naruto's struggling against his hold started to get weaker and weaker as the boy pressed his face against his leg more firmly after each swat. That was how Kakashi could tell that he the lesson was starting to drown on him. He and Sasuke were so _easy _to read. He wished it was the same way with Sakura.

"If you really want to be a Hokage, you need to learn that keeping all the villagers away from any harm is the number one priority for shinobi," Kakashi continued, and Naruto's weak protests turned into quiet sobs. His tears soaked the side of his pants, just as Sasuke's and Sakura's had, and Kakashi wondered idly how much liquid that fabric could withstand.

"Friendly spars are under no circumstance acceptable when they compromise the wellbeing of so many people that have no way of defending themselves if something goes wrong."

The rest of lecture was surprisingly short, considering he was dealing with _Naruto, _but the boy started crying so soon that Kakashi just couldn't bring himself to keep going. Making Naruto feel guilty was ridiculously easy, after all, especially when one reprimanded him on matters that had to be with becoming a Hokage; and Naruto was always so open about his emotions that it hurt to see how much realizing his mistakes actually hurt him.

He also gave him three smacks with the ruler, because that was what he had given Sasuke and therefore it was what was fair, but after that he kept Naruto on his lap for longer. Mainly because the boy was already the teary mess Kakashi was expecting Sakura to turn into after her punishment.

"I also need you to stop being _such a brat _in front of the other jōnin, okay?" Kakashi whispered against Naruto's forehead, while the boy clung to him so close it hurt a little. He was still sniffling and rubbing his face against Kakashi's best, trying to get rid of the tears, and Kakashi couldn't bring himself to care about all the snot he was probably smearing there. "It wasn't fine for me to react the way I did. But that behavior wasn't fine from you either."

Kakashi felt the small blond head nod against under his chin, and finally allowed himself to relax a little.

Only to remember then that he wasn't finished yet.

It took several minutes of thinking. Enough so Naruto almost fell asleep on Kakashi's lap and Kakashi almost stopped feeling his right leg, where most of his little student's weight was settled. But then he came up with an idea, which was his last hope to find out what was happening to Sakura. Disciplining her, for some reason, wasn't seeming to work.

So, he targeted the problem in another way.

And it had Sakura _bawling _and begging for forgiveness in seconds.

"I will tell, sensei," Sakura sobbed, stumbling and almost falling over while she hurriedly attempted to get to him from the couch. "I am sorry, I will tell. It was _wrong, _I know. I deserve to be punished more. Just please don't do anything to Sasuke-kun and Naruto. It's not their fault."

Naruto, still blinking sluggishly and too grumpy to understand what was happening, swatted at Kakashi's hand just like he had done a moment ago. Kakashi, too shocked that his plan had actually worked, allowed his genin to hit him as many times as it took for him to drop the ruler again.

Sasuke, draped again across his lap once more, looked up at him with eyes so shiny Kakashi just couldn't understand how he had been containing those many tears in them for so long. Shifting him to sit on his lap, after the another mere two smacks he had received with the ruler, was enough to make all of them roll down his face at once.

Kakashi was a monster.

A clever monster, he concluded as Sakura clumsily slumped against him, hiccupping so much he couldn't understand what she was trying to say.

"—I-I just— please don't punish Sasuke-kun anymore, just continue with me," Sakura begged, tears leaving a big wet spot on Kakashi's uniform. Well. He would have to take a shower after that. All of them would.

Sasuke, even though evidently in the desperate need to be _pampered _at that very instant, still was sensible enough to get up and drag Naruto back to the couch so the cute idiot wouldn't fall asleep again while standing up. And Kakashi took that chance to get Sakura to sit on his lap then.

He caressed her hair and wait for a few minutes until she could breathe a little better, but she wouldn't stop apologizing for a single second, so Kakashi eventually had to shush her softly.

"I won't punish you more," He said, and that made Sakura cry _harder. _"I just want you to tell me why you weren't saying anything, Sakura. You _wanted _to have a severe punishment, didn't you? That's why you were acting so weird. So out of place. So not _you._"

But she still loved Naruto and Sasuke too much as to let them pay for her mistakes.

That was why she had gone crazy the moment Kakashi had announced he would go on disciplining her teammates until she decided to talk.

"That's not okay, Sakura. I am so sorry I didn't realize that before," Kakashi said, caressing her hair. "I _should _have. I was so blind. I thought you were trying genuinely to be difficult, not that you were feeling so guilty you were purposely trying to get a harsher punishment."

"But I _hurt _her, sensei," Sakura sobbed. "I hurt Ino-pig and I _love her so much _and I am the worst best friend to ever exist in the history of best friends and— and—"

"And you can apologize to her later," Kakashi whispered reassuringly, giving her back some pats that made her cough. He didn't want her to choke on her own tears. "Now, I need you to tell me, Sakura. What did she tell you before you said that?"

He knew his Sakura too well.

And Asuma had told him enough about Ino for him to know that the girl had probably told Sakura something just as mean. Sakura wasn't dumb. Only something truly serious could have prompted her to say something so irrational, so instinctual.

He waited patiently, giving Sakura her time to calm down.

It wasn't until several minutes later, when Naruto's soft snores had resumed, that she finally answered.

"She— she said…" Sakura babbled. "She said that you wouldn't train me personally because I'm just not good enough for that."

Kakashi's heart dropped.

"Wait— what—" Kakashi mumbled, incoherently, eye wide open and jaw ajar behind his mask. "She said— _what_?"

_And you believed her_? He wanted to ask, but he didn't even had the courage for that. If he had actually talked to Sakura about something Asuma had told him about Ino, wasn't there a high chance that Sakura would at least _imagine _that it was likely Ino had found out about something Kakashi had told Asuma?

He felt nauseous suddenly.

He also felt like crying himself.

Would Guy give _him _a lesson if he asked nicely?

"Oh, _Sakura,_" Kakashi let his forehead rest on his genin's shoulder, overcome with the feeling of being the _biggest asshole in the history of teachers. _"I am so, so, so sorry. And I am also murdering that little _mindreader. _No, wait. I am telling Asuma. He will surely find this very, very interesting."

"It's okay, sensei," Sakura sniffled. "I know she was lying. But— but I _do _know that I am not as strong as Naruto and Sasuke. But I am working on it. So I am not wor— worrie—"

But her resuming crying told another story. She was indeed worried. Kakashi fully believed that she knew Ino was lying, because he knew how smart Sakura was, but he also knew that it made sense training was such a delicate matter for her when he had been spending so much time with the boys in personal trainings lately.

Well.

Mostly with Sasuke.

But Naruto also had Jiraiya.

Kakashi sighed and hugged Sakura closer to him, letting his chin rest on top of her head.

"Listen," He said, while he traced small figures on her back with the tip of his fingers. "I am really sorry I haven't been paying you enough attention. This is entirely my fault, because I— well, you're _smart_, Sakura. And well-behaved. And so full of promises."

Kakashi looked at his other two hellions, one fast asleep, the other rapidly dozing off. It made sense. They had both sparred that morning.

"And these two steps out of line so often," He said. "They need much more discipline than you do. And I just— I don't know _what exactly to give each of you. _But that's entirely me. My fault. I am so sorry if I ever made you feel insecure of your ability. You're so promising."

Sakura gave him a shy smile through the tears, and Kakashi felt warmth in his chest.

"Let's get these two into bed, yes?" Kakashi said, nodding at Naruto and Sasuke. "And then you can take a shower, if you feel like it, and then join them. I will give us tomorrow free. I think we all need it."

Sakura nodded, and he felt like he could breath for the first time in the last three hours.

He was only a tiny bit afraid of the amount of coddling he knew he would have to deliver the next day.

* * *

I am so so so worried this wasn't the proper conclusion to what I had written before. I hope it does justice.

You know that feeling when the first chapters just like, flow so easily and so eloquently and you re-read them and you love them?

Well, this one didn't flow so easily and eloquently, but I truly hope I will be satisfied when I go back and re-read it again. I'm crossing my fingers.

I might write a fourth chapter. Can you imagine about what? (:


End file.
